What If Ernst Rohm Had Outmaneuvered Hitler And Deposed Him?

[BAYLOR]

What if Rohm had gotten wind of what Hitler was planning for him on The Night of The Long Knives on June 30th 1934 ? What if he and the SA outsmarted Hitler, Himler and The SS and managed to seize power in Germany ? Would have had been able to do so and if so, how How do you think History would have played out in Germany and in Europe and the rest of the World ?

Thoughts?

 

[BAYLOR]

Rohm would have gotten rid of Himler and the SS both of which he despised . He would killed Hitler for his treachery. Very likely the Army would have moved against him but SA who more then outnumbered them. It's likely Germany would descended in a full scale civil war because many people in Germany wouldn't have followed Rohm.

 

[Brian G Turner]

I had a think about this when you first posted it, but Rohm always seemed too small a player at the end of things. He had his brownshirts, but what little I've read on him gives the impression that he only really seemed interested in being a militia leader - and just another small-minded thug.

 

[BAYLOR]

I had a think about this when you first posted it, but Rohm always seemed too small a player at the end of things. He had his brownshirts, but what little I've read on him gives the impression that he only really seemed interested in being a militia leader - and just another small-minded thug.

That's roughly the impression I get of him as well, but assuming he survived the Night of the Long Knives and bested Hitler, I agree there is no real way he could have ruled Germany. He was hated by The Industrialists because wasted to nationalize industries as well the political establishment whom he would have deposed. The Communists because he and his thugs beat, terrorized and killed them. The Army hated him too, but at 100,000 they were hardly a match for the SA.

 

[Aquilonian]

What if Rohm had... outsmarted Hitler, Himler and The SS and managed to seize power in Germany

I would doubt that Rohm was capable of out-smarting anyone, as the role of the SA was basically just beating people up. Don't forget that most Germans saw themselves as decent respectable Christians, and that Hitler's re-armament and remilitarisation plans depended on the leaders and elites of democratic European countries convincing themselves that he wasn't such a bad chap and that the "excesses" of the Nazis were the fault of thugs like Rohm rather than deliberate policy. Hitler also needed the support of capitalists, army officers, and priests, all of whom saw much to be gained by their association with him.

However although Hitler was in some ways the tool of these elements, a good tool requires high-grade metal, and Hitler was a very unusual person, who could not have been replaced by any random hooligan. There was a man- forget his name- who as a young reporter attended Hilter's Nuremberg rallies, and in old age also met Osho (Rajneesh) and some other famous gurus. He said they all had the same quality of intensely powerful personal magnetism.

So no- Rohm could not have out-smarted Hitler, and if he had somehow overcome Hitler, he would soon have been killed by other more intelligent Nazis such as Hess, or by the Nazis' backers in the army and corporations.

 

[The Ace]

Rohm was a thuggish bit-player.

Had he survived the, "Night of the Long Knives," he would've been a powerless fugitive without allies, and if he couldn't smash it in the face with a broken bottle, he was completely out of his depth.

It should also be noted that the few members of the SA who amounted to anything had been recruited to the SS long before.